Canon City Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic

Broncos DTs have quietly helped power Denver defense against the run

Justin Bannan (97) has been one of the unsung, gritty guys in the middle of the line who have helped the Broncos defense improve significantly this season against the run. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Let's just say Kevin Vickerson's job description, at least the way he defines it, wouldn't have many people breaking down a door to apply.

"It's the get-all-dirty job, you know?" Vickerson said. "You get in there, with all those big guys scratching, clawing, trying to knock you down, hands in your face, blocking at your knees and you clog things up. Take on blockers, fight every down, get your bumps and bruises and stop the run.

"Then get healed up a little and do it again next week. That's what we do down in there."

"In there" is that not-so-cozy spot of mayhem in the center of the line of scrimmage where the Broncos defensive tackles have quietly gone about their business well enough for Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil to pile up a combined 25 sacks and for the Broncos to carry a No. 2 ranking against the run.

Vickerson, Justin Bannan and Mitch Unrein have largely rotated at the two defensive tackle spots. Rookies Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson have dropped in for some snaps here and there.

There isn't a first-round pick among them. Wolfe, whom the Broncos selected at 36th overall this past April, is the highest draft pick in that group. Vickerson and Bannan were free agency additions, Unrein is a former Broncos practice squad player, and Jackson was the Broncos' fifth-round pick in this year's draft.

"That's a lot of hardworking guys," said Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey. "Those guys have to do a dirty job. If you can't play down in there, you can't play defense. And everybody's seen in the past what it looks like when we can't play defense and everybody runs it on us or we can't get to the quarterback."

Advertisement

What the group lacks in star power, it makes up with depth.

"They still don't have that one every-down, dominant guy inside, but the way (defensive coordinator) Jack (Del Rio) has the defense set up, they don't really need it," said Broncos Ring of Famer Karl Mecklenburg, who worked with the team's pass rushers in training camp. "They're always trying to force runs to bounce outside with those guys in the middle and they've got some tremendously gifted athletes on the outside to make those plays. And when they stop the run, and the offense has to pass, they can get after it, and that's always been the formula for defensive success."

Much like quarterback Peyton Manning has talked of the team's offense being a work in progress all season as he tries to get acclimated to a new team and a new system, it has worked the same way in Del Rio's defense.

The Broncos, because of the way they felt the draft board fell and the way they prioritized other positions of need, haven't made the splashy signing or draft pick at defensive tackle in John Elway's tenure as the team's top football executive. In fact, they asked their top two players at the position — Ty Warren and Vickerson — to take pay cuts before training camp opened. Warren then suffered a season-ending triceps injury on the fifth play of the Broncos' season opener.

Broncos defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson (99) gets ready to bring down Carolina's Cam Newton for a sack during the third quarter of their game Nov. 11 at Bank of America Stadium. The Broncos sacked the Panthers quarterback seven times in a 36-14 win. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

"So we've asked guys to come in and play hard and do the things we need to be done in there," Del Rio said. "I think they continue to get better as everybody understands what we want them to do, but in the end we want them playing smart, hard-nosed football so nothing comes easy for offenses. That's our mind-set."

The biggest difference between the team's defense this season and others of recent vintage can be seen in breakout runs — rushing plays of 10 yards or more.

In 2010, when the Broncos defense finished at, or near, the bottom of the league rankings in every major statistical category, it surrendered 57 run plays of at least 10 yards.

Photos: NFL

Last season, John Fox's first as Denver's head coach, the Broncos gave up 55. This year, with two games to play, they have surrendered 26 run plays of at least 10 yards with seven of those coming in the Oct. 7 loss at New England. The Broncos have surrendered 13 over the nine games since then.

"Run defense is everybody being where they're supposed to be," Bailey said. "And that's everybody; nobody can mess up or the back's getting out. We've done a pretty good job of that lately and you can't do that without those inside guys.

"And with our offense, we know if we stop the run early, people are going to get behind, they have to throw and then we get to rush with Von and Elvis."

Vickerson plays on those early downs when the primary responsibility is stopping the run.

"I'm kind of the run guy," Vickerson said. "That's when I'm in there doing my thing. If we stop that, then Coach Del Rio gets to think of all kinds of ways to rush the quarterback, and with the guys we have that's hard to stop.

"I know we're doing good if I'm out watching Von and Elvis get all those sacks."

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story

Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell" (Asthmatic Kitty) Plucked strings and pulsing keyboards dominate the distinctive arrangements on Sufjan Stevens' latest album, and in the absence of a rhythm section, they serve to keep time. Full Story